All Indian villages to have telecom link by 2006

KOLKATA: India, home to the world's fastest growing major mobile market, will connect all its more than 600,000 villages through telecommunication links by 2006, telecommunication minister for state Shakeel Ahmad said.

At the moment, only 540,000 villages are connected. Speaking at a seminar in Kolkata, Ahmad said that the industry would connect the remaining 60,000 villages by 2006.

Meanwhile, Bharti Tele-Ventures Ltd., said that it plans to spend about $1 billion in the business year to March 2006 to expand coverage in the world's fastest growing mobile market.

"We will touch by the year-end 5,000 towns this is the roll-out for the company this year," Rajan Bharti Mittal, joint managing director, told reporters on Monday.

"We will touch a huge rural base by providing an automatic umbrella coverage for 200,000 villages as well,” he added.